Catering to your aircraft in Phalaborwa.
Phalaborwa's lowveld warmth shapes the menu before anything else does. For PHW departures we pack chilled plates, sealed fruit and sauces apart, written by former VIP flight attendants, and handed over plane-side at the FBO.
We know the galley, the diet card and the 5 a.m. re-plate — because we lived them. So we built the caterer we always wished we could call.
Fourteen years on VIP and head-of-state cabins. Can plate for twelve in a G650 galley and still land it hot.
The one who reads every diet card twice. If it says no cross-contact, it means no cross-contact.
Answers at 5 a.m. when the leg moved overnight. Same-day swaps are her love language.
Limpopo is citrus, mango and subtropical fruit country, and the private jet menu for Phalaborwa leans on it: sliced fruit boxes, chilled mango and citrus salads, sealed so they survive a warm apron. The inflight menu also carries the local specialities travellers expect on a Kruger trip: biltong and droewors, boerewors from the braai, pap with a tomato and onion sauce, and venison when it is available. Private jet food for a safari-bound cabin should feel like Limpopo, not like an airport.
Every private jet menu we write for Hendrik Van Eck starts from what Limpopo does well. Private jet platters of biltong, droewors, farm cheese and seasonal fruit travel cold and cut by passenger. Gourmet inflight meals add a boerewors or lamb dish that finishes in the oven, with pap and sauce packed apart, plus private jet snacks such as rusks and roasted nuts. These local specialities give the inflight menu a sense of place around Phalaborwa without needing a full kitchen on board.
Tail, pax, diets, timing. One message — no portal, no quote form. Answered at any hour, by a flight attendant.
Leak-proof boxes, marked by guest and restriction, with reheating times written on the lid.
Two minutes out of the drawer. Whatever you ordered for the crew comes in the same delivery, and one clean invoice follows.
Hendrik Van Eck sits on the western edge of the Kruger corridor, and most of the jets that land at FAPH are carrying guests who will be in a lodge by dinner. Private jet catering here is built around that: light, cold, easy to serve, with a braai-style hot dish when the galley can finish it. Inflight catering, in-flight catering and aviation catering for the Phalaborwa ramp are written by former VIP flight attendants. Business aviation catering and executive jet catering follow the same brief, and diplomatic flight catering and cabin crew meals are quoted per flight.
A corporate group flying into FAPH for a lodge stay has different needs from a charter leaving it. Business jet catering, corporate jet catering and VIP flight catering at Phalaborwa are written for the galley you have. Charter flight catering is agreed against the tail, luxury inflight catering is plated cold or finished in the oven, and the private jet chef builds a bespoke menu around the guests.
When a ministerial or delegation flight uses Phalaborwa, government flight catering starts with the protocol office, not the kitchen. Head of state flight catering, VIP aviation catering and state visit aircraft catering are handled by the same small team, with labelling that keeps guests and staff apart.
Lowveld cooking uses peanuts, wheat-based rusks and shared braai grills, so allergens are managed from the first prep board: separate board, separate box, seat number on the lid. Kosher, halal, vegan, gluten free, allergen free, kids meals and other special meals for Phalaborwa are written into the order and checked against it on the way out.
A sheet per guest. Separate boards, separate boxes.
Sealed, certificate in the same box.
Their own menu, nothing to cut at altitude.
Vegan, low-carb, light — composed, never compromised.
A crew on the ground at FAPH may only have a short wait, so crew meals are built to be quick to eat. We pack flight crew meals and pilot meals in separate crew meal boxes, with cockpit meals that do not drip and different meals for pilots on request. Crew catering at PHW is a request on your side and a line on the invoice, same as the guest menu.
At FAPH, FBO catering is a plain handover: the FBO or the handling agent meets the order at the terminal door and takes it airside to the aircraft. Catering delivery to the FBO at Phalaborwa is agreed by phone or email, and ground handling catering follows the rules of the general aviation terminal, with handling agent catering sorted before the slot.
Hendrik Van Eck handles light and mid-size business jets and turboprops far more often than anything large, so galley catering is usually carried aboard through the cabin door. For anything bigger, we agree airside catering delivery and aircraft provisioning with your handling agent beforehand, including whether a high loader is needed at FAPH.
Mention it when you orderCertified, inspected, with cold-chain records filed against your trip.
Whichever terminal you park at, handover is at the aircraft, on your slot.
Allergen sheet per guest, halal and kosher on request, sealed and labelled.
Itemised and trip-report ready, sent after the leg.
FAPH (PHW) is the working airfield for Phalaborwa in Limpopo, used by general aviation, charter and lodge traffic. As a business aviation hub it is small and unhurried, with a modest apron, and airport catering here is shaped by guests heading straight into the bush.
Phalaborwa works as a quiet business aviation hub tied to safari and mining travel. Private jet catering, inflight catering and in-flight catering sit alongside aviation catering, business aviation catering and executive jet catering, with diplomatic flight catering when a delegation arrives. Cabin crew meals and crew meals are written to the same standard as the guest trays. General aviation traffic is light, FBO services are lean and ground handling services depend on the day.
Customs in South Africa restrict some animal and plant products, so the practical answer at Hendrik Van Eck is to buy local. For a business aviation hub of this size, locally produced meat, fruit and dry goods keep the catering clear of questions at FAPH.
Average rating from the cabin crew and pilots we cater for.
“Packing roasted vegetable bowls with separate dressings for 4 passengers at PHW needed careful thought, especially given different crew meal preferences. The order made private jet meals feel manageable because the crew briefing had been considered beforehand. The Galley Girls understood why we wanted the starters readily accessible instead of spread across several different boxes. Our colleague could take over the side dishes without asking where every component had been placed during preparation.”
“The 3 passenger portions of a charcuterie board and fresh bread were the easy part; managing a small galley worktop at Hendrik Van Eck Airport took more planning. This experience of private jet menu gave us a useful reference for managing crew briefing on another departure. With several people involved, The Galley Girls kept the crew provisions and delivery arrangements together in a concise order update. Knowing where the sandwiches were packed meant the crew could begin the relevant checks as soon as the order arrived.”
“Working around a small galley worktop at FAPH, I asked for fresh fruit and breakfast pastries in portions appropriate for our 10 passengers. Our request to The Galley Girls focused on the breakfast portions, with enough detail to distinguish passenger portions from additional provisions. It was useful to see the crew provisions listed separately when checking how much space the complete order would require. I want a private jet chef to understand crew briefing, and this order gave us a useful starting point.”
Because customs in South Africa restrict some imported animal and plant products, most of the menu at Phalaborwa is sourced inside the country. That is what we price: a biltong board costs less than a venison potjie, and a fruit plate in summer costs less than out of season.
A head-of-delegation meal looks different from a staff meal, and both go into the same order. Tell us who is flying out of PHW and what they cannot eat; last-minute orders are handled.
For a dawn or night departure, ask your handling agent whether customs will be present at FAPH. Our part is to supply sealed, itemised catering that makes the check straightforward.
Passengers can bring their own, but a menu built from local items avoids the customs question. Biltong, droewors and Limpopo fruit are the products we reach for most at Hendrik Van Eck.
The charter contract does not cover meals, so they are ordered and billed on their own. A change from six to ten passengers is just a revised count for the Phalaborwa slot.
Tail, pax and diets — a flight attendant takes it from there, day or night.
